Propelling means



April 1 7, 1945. p E 2,374,125

PROPELLING MEANS Filed Oct. 29, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 17, 1945. A.R. PEIRCE PROPELLING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 vial/ v Filed Oct. 29,l943 QN v k\ v 1.23. Pearce. 5

' it is driven.

Patented Apr. 17, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application October29, 1943, Serial No. 508,202 7 Claims. (01. 170-174) The inventionrelates to screw-type propellers and while the present disclosure isdirected to a marine propeller, aircraft.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel screw-type propellingmeans which may be reversed without reversing the direction in whichAnother object is to provide a. novel screw-type propeller, the pitch ofwhich may be varied at will. Q

A still further object is to provide a comparatively simple andinexpensive construction-yet one which will be efficient and reliable.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides in the novel subjectmatter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplishedby reference to the accompanying drawmgs.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of the stern portion of a ship,partly broken away, show- Fig. is a transverse sectional view on line 55of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail longitudinal sectional vie on line 5-6 ofFig. 5.

While the features of construction shown in the drawings will be'ratherspecifically described,

it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrativerather than limiting, toa large extent.

In the drawings above briefly described, III denotes a spiral springmetal propeller blade, the inner or apex end of which is suitablysecured at H to a propeller-shaft I2 of a ship 13. A rigid ring I4extends circumferentially of the base end of the spiral propeller bladel0 and is secured to the same. Suitable mounting means is provided forthis ring I4 and it will be seen that by relatively shifting thismounting means and the shaft l2, the spiral blade I0 may be sprung intothe form of a forwardly pitched conical spiral as in Figs. 1 and 4, orinto the form the invention is also useable on material so that it maybe flexed, its apex end may move through and be positioned on eitherside of the plane of its base end. Thus, with the propeller shaft I2driven in one direction only, the ship may be propelled forwardly orrearwardly at will. Moreover, it will be seen that whether the blade 10be set for forward propulsion or rearward propulsion, its pitch maybevaried as desired. In both forms of the invention herein disclosed, theapex of the blade I0 is shifted axially with respectto its base f or'reversing or pitch changing, but it will be seen that this is notessential for the same effect could be obtained by shifting the outerend. or base of said blade axially with respect to its inner end orapex.

In the present disclosure, the 'drivingmeans for the propeller shaft I2includes coacting gears I5 and I5, gear I5 being driven by anenginedriven shaft It while'gear I5 is slidably keyed upon the shaft I2, the key-way being shown at I! in Figs. 1 and 4. As the-shaft isaxially shifted through the gear l5 to spring or flex the propellerblade ID as above explained, suitable provision is vmade for holdingsaid gear I5 against movement with the shaft. Collars I8 at oppositesides of the gear I5 are shown for this purpose.

The shifting means for the shaft I2 may be of any appropriate nature.For illustrative purposes, a screw It has a'swiveled connection 20 withthe shaftpand said screw is engaged by a suitably mounted nut 2| havinga hand wheel 22 .bymeans of which it may be rotated. 23 denotes abearing in which the nut is rotatably and non-slidably mounted.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the ring I4 isrotatably mounted in suitable bearing forks 24 which are secured to theship I3. In Figs. 4, 5 and 6, however, the ring I4 is provided withangular arms 25 which are circumferentially spaced and extend inwardlyto a collar 26to which they are suitably secured. The shaft I2 extendsslidablythrough this colof a rearwardly pitched conical spiral as seenin collar 26, arms 25, ring I4 and propellerblade In are thus rotatableas a single unit. At 21, I have shown a key-way in the shaft 12 and at28 .(Fig. 5) have illustrated a key carried by the collar 26 andengaging said key-way to establish a driving connection between saidsleeve and shaft. The sleeve may be held against axial shifting by anypreferred means. A shell 29 is shown surrounding the front portion ofsaid sleeve and secured to the ship I3. Thi shell carries studs 01', thelike projecting into a peripheral groove 3! in the sleeve 26, as shownin Fig. 6.

Instead of fixing the shell 29 to the ship and having the shaft 12 slideto adjust and reverse the propeller blade I0, it would of course bepossible to non-slidably mount said shaft and to make provision forshifting said shell forwardly and rearwardly to attain the same results.Similarly, in Figs. 1 to 3, the shaft 12 could be non-slidably mountedand provision made to forwardly and rearwardly shift the mounting forks24 of the ring it, to adjust and reverse the propeller blade.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made forcarrying out the objects of the invention. Whenever the inner end of thespiral spring metal blade I0 is in advance of the ring Hi, with theshaft I2 rotating as indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1 and 3, forwardpropulsion will be obtained, and the pitch of the propeller blade may bevaried at'will by longitudinally adjusting said shaft 12 by rotating thehand wheel 22 in one direction or the other. Whenever the inner end ofthe blade I0 is behind the ring H, (see Fig. 3), with the shaft I2rotating in the same direction as before, rearward propulsion will beobtained, and the pitch of said blade may be varied as required,

it being of course understood that the pitch variance will change notonly the speed of the vessel but will vary the propulsive power exertedby the propeller.

Attention is again invited to the possibility of making variationswithin the scope of the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1. A propelling means comprising an open spiral spring propeller blade,the apex end of which is movable throughthe plane of its base end,driving means connected with one end of said spiral propeller blade,mounting means for the other end of said spiral propeller blade, andmeans for relpeller shaft coaxial with said spiral propeller-blade andsecured to the apex thereof, mounting means for the base of said spiralpropeller blade, and means for relatively shifting said propeller shaftand mounting means axially to spring said spiral propeller blade intothe form of a forwardly pitched conical spiral when desired and into theform of a rearwardly pitched conical spiral when desired, whereby saidpropeller blade may drive a vehicle either forwardly or rearwarcllywithout reversing its direction of rotation.

3. A propelling means comprising an open spiral spring metal propellerblade, the apex end of which is movable through the plane of its baseend, a propeller shaft coaxial with said spiral propeller blade andsecured to the apex thereof, a rigid rin extending circumferentially ofsaid spiral propeller, blade and secured to the base thereof, mountingmeans for said ring, and means for relatively shifting said propellershaft and mounting means axially to spring said spiral propeller bladeinto the form of a forwardly pitched conical spiral when desired andinto the form of a rearwardly pitched conical spiral when desired,

whereby said propeller blade may drive a vehicle either forwardly orrearwardly without reversing its direction of rotation.

4. A propelling means comprising an open spiral spring metal propellerblade, the apex end of which is movable through the plane of its baseend, a propeller shaft coaxial with said spiral propeller blade andsecured to the apex thereof, a rigid ring extending circumferentially ofsaid spiral propeller blade and secured to the base thereof, fixedbearing means in which said ring is rotatably mounted, and means foraxially sliding said shaft.

5. A propelling means comprising an open spiral spring metal propellerblade, the apex end of which is movable through the plane of its baseend, a propeller shaft coaxial with said spiral propeller blade andsecured to the apex thereof, a rigid ring extending ciroumferentially ofsaid spiral propeller blade and secured to the base thereof, a collarsurrounding said propeller shaft and spaced from the plane of said ring,circumferentially spaced arms secured to said ring and collar, and meansfor axially sliding said propeller shaft and collar relatively to eachother.

6. A propelling means comprising an open spiral spring metal propellerblade, the apex end of which is movable through the plane of its baseend, a propeller shaft coaxial with said spiral propeller blade andsecured to the apex thereof, a rigid ring extending circumferentially ofsaid spiral propeller blades and secured to the base thereof, a collarsurrounding said propeller shaft and spaced from the plane'of said ring,circumferentially spaced arms secured to said ring and collar, means forholding said collar against axial shifting, and means for aXillyshifting said propeller shaft.

7. A propelling means comprising a spiral propeller blade of resilientmaterial, said blade decreasing in width from its base to its apex topermit its apex end to be positioned on either side of the plane of itsbase end, driving means connected with one of the ends of said blade,mounting means for the other end of said blade, and means for relativelyshifting said driving means and mounting means axially to position theapex end of the blade on either side of the plane of the base endthereof.

ALLISON R. PEIRCE.

